Bay area races: Berkeley, Richmond, BART

BERKELEY

Mayor

Incumbent Tom Bates took and early lead Tuesday night as he sought a fourth term in the city's first ranked-choice mayoral election. Bates, 74, was defeating five challengers in his bid to become the city's longest-serving mayor.

"I'm really gratified by the early returns and hopeful I'll have the opportunity to serve the people of Berkeley another four years," said Bates, who previously represented Berkeley in the state Assembly. "But this isn't just a big night for me. It's a wonderful night for progressives across the country."

Bates, who is married to state Senator Loni Hancock, pointed to the city's relative prosperity since he first took office. Crime is down, schools are improving, and the city has escaped many of the ravages of the economic downturn.

For the next term, he plans to continue working on environmental initiatives, particularly the city's Measure G goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050.

BERKELEY

City Council

Despite four council seats up for grabs, voters were poised Tuesday to stick with the status quo on the City Council.

Incumbents Darryl Moore, Laurie Capitelli and Max Anderson faced serious challengers for their seats, but were all ahead in early results. Susan Wengraf led District 6 with no challengers.

RICHMOND

City Council

Two of three candidates supported by Chevron were pulling ahead in the race for three Richmond City Council seats.

Incumbent Nat Bates and newcomers Gary Bell and Bea Roberson received significant campaign contributions from Chevron, one of the city's largest employers, through a political action committee called Moving Forward, according to campaign disclosure forms filed with the city clerk. Bates and Bell were leading in early returns, but incumbent Tom Butt, who was not on the slate of candidates Chevron was supporting, was also in the top three.

If all three candidates supported by the oil company were to win, the council could have a pro-Chevron majority as it navigates issues regarding refinery regulations and future growth. In the past few years, the council, led by its Green Party mayor, Gayle McLaughlin, has been divided on Chevron plans to upgrade and expand its century-old refinery facilities.

In District Seven, which includes slivers of Alameda, Contra Costa and San Francisco counties, three candidates sought to unseat incumbent Lynette Sweet. Zakhary Mallett, a transportation planner from El Sobrante, was neck-and-neck with Sweet in early results, but votes in San Francisco put Sweet ahead.

The BART board oversees a balanced budget but faces several challenges. Among these are decisions on whether to build extensions to outlying areas, whether to increase service overnight and in the early morning, and how best to modernize.